SUNDRE — Provided there are enough people who register, a couple of college courses will be delivered in the new year.
As a result of the partnership established earlier this year between the Town of Sundre and Campus Alberta Central (CAC), Red Deer College (RDC) will be offering its first set of courses: Microsoft essentials, and management skills for supervisors, according to a press release.
The municipality’s economic development department conducted a course survey last year, and the management skills for supervisors course offered by RDC lined up well with the results of the survey, said Jon Allan, Sundre’s economic development officer.
“Corroborating the survey results, Campus Alberta Central also advised that the management skills for supervisors course had been popular in other places where they have a presence,” said Allan.
“As for the MS office essentials course, Greenwood Neighbourhood Place noted that there was demand from people coming into their office who wanted to upgrade their computer skills to make themselves more employable.”
Since both programs lined up with community feedback, and since RDC offers these programs, GNP and the municipality worked together with the college to deliver these courses locally in support of developing the area’s workforce, he said.
While the new provincial budget has created some concerns for education funding, the courses offered in Sundre will not be impacted, he said.
“The budget does not affect the program; the courses are self-funded by tuition fees.”
The Microsoft office essentials program will be offered over the course of four Fridays, starting on Jan. 17. Allan said the course is ideal for people who wish to improve their computer literacy with commonly used Microsoft administrative software, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
The management skills for supervisors program will be offered over the course of four Thursdays, starting on Jan. 16. This course, he said, is ideal for existing employees who might have been promoted from within and require additional training in a new leadership position.
“Courses are also eligible to have tuition significantly subsidized for business or non-profit employers as part of the Canada-Alberta Jobs Grant,” he added.
Both programs will be taught out of the Sundre Community Centre’s boardroom, which is doubling as the location of the new CAC learning site, he said, adding the municipality will also earn a standard boardroom rental rate paid by the college.
However, each program requires a minimum registration of eight students for the course to proceed. The municipality and GNP, he said, “are both eager to ensure the success of RDC’s presence in Sundre, since their programs will improve the local workforce, support economic development, and provide incentive to potential future investors to locate in the community.”
People are encouraged to contact RDC directly with any inquiries about the courses or to register for one or both. Alternatively, anyone interested in learning more is invited to attend a public open house hosted by the municipality and GNP from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Sundre Community Centre boardroom on Thursday, Nov. 21, when a representative of RDC will be available to answer questions.
“To be competitive economically, one of the most important factors to any geographic area is the quality of the local workforce,” Allan said when asked his thoughts on the importance of delivering local educational and professional development opportunities.
“We’re really lucky to have this post-secondary presence, since the training they provide to residents and workers is important to our area’s commercial competitiveness.”
Additionally, he said having a local post-secondary presence further adds legitimacy to the municipality as a destination for investment and development.
“Our goal is that it’ll eventually turn into a permanent presence with a dedicated learning site.”
But for now, the process is moving along one step at a time, and Allan aspires to see the first two programs receive enough uptake to become successful. Although the number of registrations, which are handled by Red Deer College, was as of last week not immediately available, he said, “there have been numerous inquiries, along with interest expressed by a couple of local businesses interested in taking advantage of the programs for their staff.”
CAC is the joint initiative between RDC and Olds College to provide post-secondary training and education in Central Alberta’s small and rural communities. The municipality is working alongside Greenwood Neighbourhood Place to facilitate the partnership. For the effort invested in helping to make the courses a success, he said 15 per cent of tuition revenues will be paid to the municipality and split evenly with GNP.
“We’re really hopeful that this post-secondary presence in Sundre will become a long-term partnership with RDC and Campus Alberta Central.”
